Keep roller guides aligned with heads in VCR?
 

I have a FUNAI DV220FX5 from 2016 that seems to have issues with the guides adjusting after a certain period of time causing fuzziness to the video. Audio is fine. I adjusted them a while back (a little less than a year ago?) when the issue first appeared a few months after I first got it, and it fixed it. Since then, l've had to adjust them 3 times to get the video to show properly. Today will be my 5th total, but l'm curious if there's any way to make sure these things don't budge after I don’t use it for a while? Or am I stuck adjusting them for god knows how long?

Thank you!

You can put some Loctite (the blue kind, red may be too strong) on the screws that hold the guides. Problem is you will have to remove the whole guides first.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J0f...IGxvY3RpdGU%3D

I'm not sure about your model but many VHS rolling tape load guide heights can be locked via their integral Allen screw at the base.

That's mainly a thing in older mechanisms up to the mid 90s, pretty sure this one doesn't have that. Maybe there is some way of securing the guides a bit more from turning on their own but if it's something one intends to use a lot it might be better to look for a vcr that is at least slightly better built than a 2000s Funai that doesn't even have hi-fi audio. (Unless there is some more asthetic or esoteric reason for using a VCR from the last year VCRs were made.)

I'm not entirely sure if the tape can spin the guides unless they are really loose, One way to secure them is to put a dab of nail polish on top of the screw head, once it dries it locks the spindle to the center screw. Make sure when the guides are fully extended (turn off VCR and give the tape some slack) they are locked to the end of the slots, if they wiggle even a little bit that could be your problem, adjusting the guide height is just a temporary patch if that's the case.

Thanks everyone! Will be giving it a go later today or tomorrow as I’m not currently home to troubleshoot, but I will keep all updated if interested.